I've always admired those people who knew exactly what they were going to do when they grew up, from a very young age... or even just from when they left high school. They knew, and then they put all their attention towards that one singular goal.
Whenever the adults would ask me "what I wanted to be when I grew up" I really had no idea, and I tried to just make up something that would make them leave me alone. The entire question just wasn't very interesting to me... I didn't really want to "be"anything.
Truth is I had no idea when I was a little kid, I had no idea when I was in high school, and I really had no idea when I was at university, either.
Most of the time I battled the simple fact that the things that I wanted to do were not likely to be things I could actually get paid for so that left me with a bit of a conundrum. What could I do that I would dislike the least rather than what could I do that I would like the most.
The sad thing is — and I say this from the ripe old age of 66 — I never actually reached a point where what I wanted to do overlapped with what I had to do to get by on a day-to-day basis.
At this late stage of life I still don't know what I "want to be when I grow up" because I've never been able to find significant connection to the state of being (and what "matters") that the majority of people out there describe as "being grown up."
Which leads to the next thing which is that I have always had a strange relationship with my age.
If you're anything like most people you've probably been asked at some point in your life "what does it feel like to be 21?" or "what does it feel like to be 50?" or some other milestone that essentially feels exactly the same as it did the day before.
So you make something up and move on.
I have never been able to feel any particular age and I still don't feel any particular age except periodically feeling old when I realize that my knees and hips crackle and pop more than a glow stick... except we don't get a fancy light show every time I move.
I think one of the things I've long struggled with was this idea that growing up invariably meant feeling stuck in some kind of drudgery job with a ton of obligations that you really weren't too happy about having and yet society as a whole labels that as "being responsible."
It's not really a very inspiring offering, if you ask me.
Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of your week!
Comments, feedback and other engagement is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment — share your experiences — be part of the conversation! I do my best to answer comments, even if it sometimes takes a few days!
Greetings bloggers and social content creators! This article was created via PeakD, a blogging application that's part of the Hive Social Content Experience. If you're a blogger, writer, poet, artist, vlogger, musician or other creative content wizard, come join us! Hive is a little "different" because it's not run by a "company;" it operates via the consensus of its users and your content can't be banned, censored, taken down or demonetized. And that COUNTS for something, in these uncertain times! So if you're ready for the next generation of social content where YOU retain ownership and control, come by and learn about Hive and make an account!
Proud member of the Silver Bloggers Community on Hive!
As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this venue and not published anywhere else.
2026.10.28 01:25 PDT
1687/2953